I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom
By Jason Pargin, narrated by Ari Fliakos

Twenty six year old Abbott Coburn has mostly failed to launch in life according to those who know him face to face. He's a Lyft driver because his dad made him get a job due to the fact that he spends all his free time in front of his computer, ranting and raving to his internet audience, and once a week, trying a new fast food that'll he'll eat in front of his loyal (or not so loyal) audience. Abbott seems very, very low key but he's got a steaming hot anger inside of him and as it comes out I like him less and less. When we first meet Abbott I felt for him, he seems steeped in self doubt, self hatred, and lack of self esteem but really there is so much more to him and boy, did I ever get tired of his constant whining and making excuses.

When a woman offers Abbott $200,000 cash to drive her and a black box across country, no questions allowed, Abbott does his lazy best to get out of the job. He just wants to go back to his room so he can do what he always does when he's not having to work this stupid job his dad made him get. Instead, Abbott finally takes the fare and the box, planning to get out of this huge blip to his existence as soon as he can. But a zillion things get in his way and you'd think there would be a lot of life lessons in getting Abbott out in the public, doing something different, but I think most of them are lost on him. As I get to know Abbott better, I know I liked him best when I didn't know him so well.

There are a lot of funny one, two, or three liners in this story. We meet a ton of people, there are a lot of POVs, and some of my favorite parts of the story were the Reddit entries. You can read really dumb things on Reddit and you get to read really dumb things here, too. The author nailed the Reddit chatter and how truthful comments can be buried into oblivion while wacko, inaccurate, cruel comments can take off like wildfire. The story does a good job of showing some of the worst of social media but I think the story is too long and too chaotic with all the input from everyone. But that's what social media is, garbage, all kinds of garbage, influencing people not willing or able to think for themselves. There are a lot of messages here and one of them is that it's important to realize forming a belief system based on what strangers on the internet say is not a good way to live.

I was able to read the ebook and listen to the audiobook. The narrator does a great slacker voice for Abbott, as if he's about to fall asleep as soon as he can get away from whatever bothersome task he's supposed to do. I enjoy how the woman he picks up won't let him get away with whining and whinging his way across country, not that she's an expert at making perfect life decisions.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC.

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom
Jason Pargin
Publication Date - September 24

No one does the absurd and uncanny quite like Jason Pargin.

In this standalone novel, we go on a journey that feels both brand new yet familiar to his 'John Dies at the End' novels.

I had a blast with this book. The mystery was engaging and there was a thrilling quality that kept me quickly turning the pages.

I love how the book hints at upcoming events by telling us cryptic snippets of the outcome. It makes you want to keep reading to see how things end up in the way they're being described.

The book was paced really well, and I breezed through its 400 pages. I didn't want the adventure to end.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC eBook in exchange for my honest opinion.

4.25 / 5

This book was great for a quarter of the way through. I loved the, a black box in the back of this kids car. He’s anxious with compulsive thoughts and I love how accurately they show how it feels to have OCD type thinking. I loved the development and interactions between Abbott and Ether. I thought they had depth… but then there is just SO much going on. Lots of political stuff: feminism, generational differences… also we go into crypto stuff, aliens, ufos…

It was overall a fun read, I am rounding 3.5 stars down to 3 because it felt very chaotic. I think this could be a really fun movie. I am definitely interested in reading more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillian Audio for the opportunity to read this in advance of the release.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC audiobook!

This book starts off with a strong premise.

Abbott is a Lyft driver and meets a kooky girl named Ether who offers him 200, 000 to take her and a black — possibly radioactive — box across the country as quickly as possible.

Of course, there are rules.

No looking at what's in the box.
No questions
He can't tell anyone
No electriconic devices
And they must leave immediately

Abbott was a person in his twenties still living at home with his father, and took the opportunity to be able to move out and tell his dad to f*ck off.

I thought this was gonna be an awesome adventure.

Abbott and Ether start a good friendship at first, HOWEVER, Abbott shows that he is SUPER freaking sexist. I hated some of their conversations, but liked some of Ether's never endless weird random conversation starters.

That being said, there were WAY too many points of views. Switching from Mulort to the cop to Hunter to Zeke and then adding in Reddit posts.

Some of the chapters just felt like they were really really dragged out. It felt like two stories in one sometimes, when the ramblings would just go off in a whole other direction.

The main characters, Abbott and Ether were both flawed, quirky and enjoyable, one influencer and the other a gamer who were involved in scandal. They were super well rounded but hard to relate to at times.

I didn't realize until after I started it, that the author who wrote this also wrote John Dies at The End!

Jesus Christ. What a ride. This year (because they all seem to be coming out with self contained stories instead of new installments in established universes) is the year of authors that have been on my list forever and finally reading them. While I have enjoyed most as I suspected I would; Jason Pargin has blown me away. This might be my favorite book this year so far. The plotting alone in this is impeccable. The pacing is fast, it's thrilling, and it never lets up. The characters are flawed, frustrating, real, and at certain points you have no idea who to root for or what is coming next. It is both hilarious and terrifying how easily this feels at once insane and could happen right now. I try not to get to spoiler-y in my reviews unless I feel it necessary but man do I want to gush over everything in this. The "payoff" at the end is chefs kiss. Both heartwarming and wtf. It is FILLED with social commentary and does a fantastic job of showing multiple sides and poking fun at the hypocrisy of a lot of it. The use of social media and Reddit specifically is phenomenal. I cannot wait to have a physical copy of it but the audiobook is SOOO worth it. The narrator does an amazing job and his inflection keeps the tension, pacing, and emotion alive the whole time.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the audio ARC.

Metaphorically speaking, there are so many black boxes of doom in this, and all of them had me worried.

Please do not misunderstand. This book is smart, thrilling, and thought provoking. I thought Karen (yes, there’s a Karen but not a Karen Karen) was especially insightful, and it was clearly an earned wisdom, which is revealed along the way.

I suppose I’ve had run-ins with a few too many Abbotts in life so he made me extremely uncomfortable. He was an interesting character, though, and despite being unlikable, he was nuanced enough that I could *almost* feel for him. I think the author’s ability to broaden my view of a basic stereotype by painting its facets so colorfully speaks well of his own intellect.

I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom is fiction blended with social commentary at its finest. The turns it takes feel absolutely outrageous while simultaneously reflecting our current reality well. It’s such a weird adventure, and there’s so much thrown at the reader that I’m inclined to say it demands multiple readings to process it all. That means I might get back on the road with these cleverly developed characters again one day.

I am immensely grateful to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

I picked this up not realizing I knew the author's previous work, John Dies at the End, having read it about a decade ago. To be fair, he wrote it under a pseudonym, so not entirely my fault. I did recognize the tone, which is extremely similar to John Dies at the End. If you loved that book, you will absolutely love this one. There's violence, tons of jokes, unlikely heroes, and aliens (not really). If you found JDATE to be cringey in some indescribable way, you will also find this to be the same here.
This novel is extremely fast-paced, and the narrator of the audiobook reflects that in his reading, which is faster than I usually listen. Despite the speed, Ari Fliakos does an excellent job reading with distinct, clear, and likeable voices for the widely diverse cast of characters.
I enjoyed most of this, but I did struggle about 40% of the way through to keep going due to the length of an unexpectedly preachy road trip. GSG and Abbott have very long, raw, controversial conversations, and I at times wished one of them would just go to sleep.
This is a 3.5 for me that I'm rounding up to 4⭐ primarily because at no point in this story did I know what was going to happen next. It's unpredictability felt volatile as a nuclear bomb about to go off, and I was definitely interested to see the fallout.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy of the audiobook to review!

"Speculative Fiction "is becoming my new favorite genre. It is nearly always a commentary on our culture and "what if"? scenarios reminiscent of the classic show "The Twilight Zone." And what a title!

Abbott picks up Ether as a Lyft and quickly embarks on a cross country adventure. She has a large black box and they are not allowed top open it, but it must be in Washington DC in four days. $200,000 is on the line. His dad is worried when he sees Abbott is gone and the mind hive of reddit gets involved. Drama ensues!

My favorite part of the book is some of the conversations that Ether and Abbott have on the road. She helps him see things differently and how we can be subject to propaganda through media and how we can become the product instead of the customer. There were 3 or 4 conversations that were definitely intriguing.

The ending was...interesting.

I listened to the audiobook, I found the narrator easy to follow and well acted.

Thanks to @netgalley and Mac Millan Audio for the ARC. Book to be published September 24, 2024.

Jason Pargin will always be an auto read for me. Since John Dies at the End until the end of time. I love the wit, love how thought provoking everything he writes is while still being so funny. This book was no exception I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a thought provoking, laugh out loud funny novel.

This was a wild ride, and I had a great time!
The story is very original and fast paced, the characters are colourful and well written, each one with their own unique voice.
There is a lot of dark humour and craziness and it worked really well for me.
I listened to the audiobook version and I found the narrator added a lot to my enjoyment.
I did not see the resolution coming and it might have been my least favourite part but I still loved this book.

Another great book from Macmillan!

A new standalone book from the author of the John Dies At The End books? You know I had to read this.

While it focuses on new characters, Pargin’s powerful voice and ruthless conversational pacing are still at the center. Our plot is a hapless rideshare driver gets waylaid with an offer of $100,000 if he’ll drive a woman and her special box across the country. It’s a premise built out of red flags, carried by a great humorous atmosphere and the promise of a wild road trip, because you know someone is about to come chasing after them. This new passenger is basically a living Cracked.com article, constantly ready to drop another devastating anecdote shaped like a social critique, while fighting to keep him from learning what cargo she’s actually carrying. Drugs? Guns? No, this is something way weirder.

You never know what to expect when opening a Jason Pargin novel, this goes the same for I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom. Pargin tells a strange road trip tale with huge consequences that had me hooked from the outset.

Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC. But there are rules: He cannot look inside the box; he cannot ask questions; he cannot tell anyone; they must leave immediately; and he must leave all trackable devices behind. As these eccentric misfits hit the road, rumors spread on social media that the box is part of a carefully orchestrated terror attack intended to plunge the USA into civil war. The truth promises to be even stranger, and may change how you see the world.

If someone offered me $200,000 to drive across the country with them, it would be a very difficult decision to say no. However, after reading I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom my mindset has changed a little. While the deal seems to good to be true, $200,000 is a lot of money to pass up for a little road trip.

While the premise of the story is taking a black book across the United States without knowing what is inside, deep down the tale is about so much more. Pargin expertly weaves in commentary on how technology and social media impact our lives, highlighting both the positives and negatives of our digital age. This gives the story more depth. The use of social media and websites such as Reddit as a plot device is clever while also pointing out that our ability to spout off whatever is in our heads without any proof can be damming to the world we live in and what outcomes we can skew via this privilege.

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom offers profound insights into society and culture. Despite tackling weighty themes, the novel has a great blend of humor and thought-provoking commentary making for an engaging read that kept me going without setting the novel down. Giving us moments of humor as well as topics that made me think, I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom challenged me to think while enjoying a fiction novel leaving a lasting impression long after I finished the book.

The characters are extremely well written, some easy to connect with while others are a bit more eccentric, each with their own set of quirks and motivations. Pargin skillfully navigates between these perspectives, providing readers with a multifaceted view of the story's events. Some stories with this many characters can cause me to get confused. However, Pargin does a fantastic job giving them all unique backgrounds to allow me to differentiate between them and follow along with ease.

I was lucky enough to read I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom via audiobook and it was one hell of a listen. Ari Flakes does a fantastic job of narrating with the right amount of gusto and inflection. Flakes allows us to easily know which character was taking the lead in each chapter and gave us the ability to form visualizations in our minds by reading Pargin's words clearly and with passion. While cracking open a nice new book is always a good time, this one may be more enjoyable with the voice of Flakes in your ears.

Pargin draws us into I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom with thrilling, complex, and innovative storytelling with plenty of twists and turns. His masterful storytelling is on full display and I deeply enjoyed contemplating technology, society, and human nature while laughing and not taking the book too seriously. I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom is a unique experience and was well worth my time.

I LOVE this book. I read it as an ARC not that long ago, and as soon as I saw that there was an audio version immediately requested that as well. Pargin/Wong's work (he used to publisher as David Wong) is hilarious, biting social commentary that just resonates with me. The words are magical enough, but add in the spot-on perfect narration of Ari Fliakos and the experience is ramped up to an even higher level. This was literally the perfect audiobook. The narration added tension and humor and levity at all the right points and made me laugh out loud and screech in righteous indignation - often at almost the same time. It's a really phenomenal audiobook - and book - and I cannot recommend it enough!

I received this audio DRC from NetGalley.

Well, the narrator did a good job at making sure Abbot would be ridiculously annoying. The whole middle section felt like it was a bunch of ranting from some annoying person who doesn't actually know anything. I guess that was the point, about these people and their toxic chronically online status and inciting other like minded people to be dumb and do crazy things. But it was really hard to get through, especially when that's all that's happening for a while. It had a promising start, but then had these rants and life lesson lectures that dragged it down, and then finally starts picking up again towards the end, although another pet peeve of mine is having things hinge on some miscommunication. I was hoping this would be weird and funny and have a quick pace, but this just felt disappointing overall.

This was my first time dipping into the weird and wonderful writing world of Jason Pargin - I’m not sure I was prepared. 🤯

Abbott Coburn is a Lyft driver, just trying to do his job when he pulls up to the Circle K for his pick-up. It’s a young woman sitting on a black box, and his life is about to change.

The woman, Ether, will pay Abbott $200,000 in cash to help transport this box (which he cannot know its contents) across the country to Washington D.C.

There are quite a few problems. Abbott is a Twitch streamer who left his followers a message before they left. Also, he took his dad’s gun, and he’s running low on his anxiety meds.

Of course, they are being pursued. As you probably can imagine, this becomes a chaotic sh*tshow of a journey. I found most of it entertaining and humorous, as there is this big unknown of what is in the box, and Abbott is stressed and anxious. It does feel bad, with impending doom or at least conspiratorial. And Ether is pretty weird.

I liked the banter and snark between Abbott and Ether, and when the comments start rolling in on social media about these two and their adventure or the “attack” they are planning, it gets very interesting. There were a few rabbit trail rants that I could have done without, but since social media plays such a big role in this story, I guess it’s par for the course.

The ending added to the “what the heck is going on” element of the book. If you’re looking for a unique and slightly unhinged adventure - don’t miss this one. And if you enjoy audiobooks, Ari Fliakos does a great job narrating this one.

Thank you @stmartinspress for a gifted book and hat.

And thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted audiobook.

Thank you to netgalley and macmillan.audio for this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

It was AWESOME!!

Abbot is an anxiety-ridden, shut-in 20-something who lives his life through his computer screen, engaged with a community of fellow gamers and streamers, while living with his father, who can't seem to understand why Abbot won't get off his ass and DO something with his life.

Abbot begrudgingly agrees to start doing Lyft, hoping to save up enough to eventually move out of his father's house and out from under his disapproving stare. Little does Abbot know, he's about to pick up a fare that will change his life FOREVER.

A woman who goes by the name Ether has convinced Abbot to help her transport a mysterious black box all the way across the country for the tidy sum of $200,000. But there are rules.

He cannot ask questions.
He cannot tell anyone.
They must leave immediately.
He must leave all trackable devices behind

The narrator of this story is excellent, giving every character their own personality through his incredible use of inflection and accents. The characters are nice and plump, full of backstory and their own distinct natures that create an intricate story interwoven with meaningful social commentary, absolute hilarity, rage inducing monolgoues, insane situations, and a finale that will leave your jaw on the floor.

This was one HELL of a ride, and I recommend it to anyone who's looking for their next audiobook to kick ass!

This book had a lot of potential, and sounded very interesting, but i was very confused from the beginning. There were a lot of different perspectives in the same chapter that might have been easier to understand reading it then an audiobook.

This was a fun read, I’m always interested by books which are heavily invested in internet culture as a phenomenon. As somebody who is extremely online a lot I find the world of the internet to be really engrossing and interesting in a way which I don’t think mainstream discourse has fully captured. I’m interested in the way this book explores the idea of events blowing up way out of proportion online, where things which would not have been significant in real life are suddenly made much more significant and worse through internet speculation.

While I find this general point to be interesting, it felt really weighed down to me by how heavy handed the presentation of some of these ideas is, and frankly by how many different social criticisms seemed kinda thrown at the wall without having major bearing on the plot. I think it could have benefitted from narrowing down the points it wanted to get across and exploring how to discuss those in more depth.

I read this as an audiobook which is generally my preferred way of reading, but I actually think in this case the actual text may have been better for me, since things like journal entries and reddit posts and comments don’t really scan for me read out loud.

Kirsten McDougall's She's a Killer is a breath of fresh air in the dystopian genre. It's a whip-smart, darkly comedic tale that tackles the pressing issue of climate change with a unique and irreverent voice.

Alice, our anti-heroine, is a brilliant but unmotivated slacker who finds herself thrust into a world on the brink of ecological collapse. McDougall's portrayal of Alice is both hilarious and deeply relatable. Her snarky commentary and deadpan wit provide a much-needed dose of humor to a bleak subject matter.

The novel is a satirical masterpiece, skewering consumerism, government incompetence, and the widening gap between the rich and poor. McDougall’s sharp observations about society are both biting and thought-provoking. While the plot is fast-paced and full of twists, the book's real strength lies in its character development and social commentary.

She's a Killer is a bold and original work that will leave you laughing, thinking, and questioning the world around you. It's a must-read for fans of dystopian fiction and anyone who enjoys a good satire.

(Stars explained below)

So... I started reading Jason Pargin when he was still "David Wong" and releasing his chapters online. And I really thought it was unique and different and maybe even exciting. But then reality set in, and the accusations started coming in. Everyone said his books were misogynist, steeped in racial stereotypes, juvenile, trolling, and like an incel's manifesto. I've tried to separate that from my review, but it is difficult when the main male protagonist embodies most of these characteristics, but here goes:

The writing is really good, Pargin is excellent with dialog, and gives each character their own unique "voice". His characters are instantly familiar and he intertwines American subculture like no other. He maintains a constant, even, pace and while he is never boring, he might get a little to fantastical with situational events and outcomes. His world building skills are good, but you do have to suspend some belief in reality to accept his world, but if you do, you should enjoy his world. Where he lacks as a writer is with character growth. Most of his characters arrive fully formed and they don't "develop" as much as they share additional information to excuse their behavior. If you like Ready Player One, but prefer your writing less socially and self aware, this could be a good book for you. Basically, if you find yourself thinking that Joe Rogan would make a good story teller, this should be right up your alley. On writing alone, I'd give this book 4.5 Stars. It has a good beginning and while most of the events skirt the edges of believability, the middle of the book does a good job pulling you along with it and all the zany loose ends are neatly tied up.

If I look at this book under the lens of my own beliefs, politics, and societal norms... It is a disturbing look at humanity. It spends an incredible amount of time explaining and trying to justify (or maybe even normalize) the mistreatment of others. Like when you meet someone and they seem like a nice person, but then they start saying some problematic things about people who don't look like you, and it just makes you uncomfortable. And it is so obvious, the author even tries to write a disclaimer about it at the end of the book. So, based on that, I'd give this book a 2.

The narration is very good.

That is why I am giving this book a 3.5 Stars, and rounding it up to a 4, because had I not known about the author, or didn't listen to his "disclaimer"... It is what i would have rated this book.